Instant Post-Conference Thoughts: Sunday P.M. (October ’16)

Note:  These are the instant, mildly-filtered things that ran through my brain and heart as I watched this session of General Conference. If you are looking for deep, spiritual analysis, this is not the place. Drive on. Please check back later for that, after I have had some time to process.

• Elder David A. Bednar spoke about how to come to know the Savior.

1. Exercising faith in HIm: “A necessary preparation for following Him.” “True faith is focused in and on the Lord and always leads to righteous action.”
2. Following Him: “The Savior has admonished us to become as He is. Thus, following the Lord includes emulating Him.”
3. Serving HIm – He enlarges our capacity to serve. Our desires eventually align with his. Puts off self-centeredness. We grow to love those who we serve. A manifestation of charity.
4. Believing Him – some serve dutifully without having been transformed by the Atonement. “We give away all our sins to know Him.” “Sacred ordinances performed by proper priesthood authority are essential to believing the Savior.”  (See? You gotta participate in organized religion.)

 

• Brian K. Ashton (SS) (Sunday School, not Nazi)  Focused on “The Doctrine of Christ.” (First 4 principles + endure to the end)

This is essentially the sequel to Elder Bednar’s talk, so the sequence is perfect.

“Faith also causes us to stop worrying so much about what others think of us & begin to care far more about what God thinks of us.”

“Repentance causes us to become ‘true followers’ of Christ, which fills us with love and casts out our fears.”

“Increased faith leads to additional repentance.”

Also reaffirmed what Elder Bednar just said about ordinances being essential. He also went into preparing for the sacrament, which was previously discussed as well. Yep.

 

• Elder Carl B. Cook. Service.

Serving in the Church can be challenging… (yeah, buddy.)

“Service is not something we endure in this life”

“All Church callings come from God – through His appointed servants ” (This can be hard to swallow sometimes, but it we take it on faith, it will change our perspective on our service.)  “When we recognize God’s hand in our calling & serve with all of our hearts, additional power comes into our service”

He went on the shred all the excuses in not accepting a calling. Doesn’t matter if you are old, busy, tired, or unqualified, because the Lord qualifies those He calls.

“If you want to make your Bishop or Branch President’s day, ask him ‘How can I help, where can I serve?'”

 

• During the hymn I took a look at Twitter. I counted through 100 tweets and saw that only 4 had any likes or retweets. 4.  I don’t know if that means anything or not.

 

• Elder Ronald A. Rasband spoke of a friend who was experiencing a crisis of faith, and how he responded to him. (This is good because most all of us know someone who is on the cusp on losing their faith, or already has.) “Each of us must first strengthen ourselves spiritually and then strengthen those around us.”

“I begin by reminding you that you are a son or daughter of a loving Father in Heaven and that His love remains constant.” “No mistake, sin, or choice will change God’s love for us. That does not mean sinful conduct is condoned.”

He focused on the importance of remembering back to when you felt strong, which included a push to write those things down in journals. “Record your thoughts in journals and personal histories.”

Also, the basics: Study, attend church, partake of the sacrament and renew covenants. (LOTS of sacrament references this Conference.)

(I could make a case for the value of blogging here – it does help me document, preserve, and share things I have learned and experienced that strengthen my testimony and faith.)

Elder Rasband is so sincere and real, and his talks are always great. I’m sure glad he will probably be serving in this calling for a long, long time.

 

• Elder Evan A. Schmutz has gentle vibe to him – surprised to see he is a lawyer.

Without quoting anything, what I am talking away from this talk is that life can get rough, but if we have the eternal perspective that it will be worth it, we can endure, and serve those around us.

“The great plan of our Father in Heaven really is the eternal plan of happiness.”

Living a good life does not make us immune from tragedy.

Important: “Suffering, in and of itself, does not teach us anything unless we deliberately become involved in learning from our experiences.” When we can link our suffering to an assurance of immortality, our faith in Christ increases and comforts our souls.

“As we acquire this eternal perspective in our lives, our capacity to endure grows, we learn how to succor those in need of succor”

 

• I wish I had thought to buy more candy yesterday.

 

• Elder K. Brett Nattress. Started by talking about being a hyper kid. I can relate.  Told a sweet story of how he was not listening to the morning reading from the book of Mormon, but his mother pressed forward undaunted because a promise she had received from President Marion G. Romney-  that if she would read every day with her kids, she would not lose any off them. “I WILL NOT LOSE YOU.”  Powerful stuff.

Shout out to the sisters and mothers.

Reading the Book of Mormon helps protect us from deceptions of the adversary. (Makes you wonder how many of those who have left the Church and are throwing stones were faithfully reading the Book of Mormon daily.)

“The Savior provided the perfect example of how to live in an imperfect and unfair world.” “He forgave the seemingly unforgivable. He loved the unlovable.”

 

• Elder Dale G. Renlund to wrap things up. I have that same tie.

Finding joy in and through repentance. Repentance means to “turn around.”  “Changing our behavior and returning to the right road is only part of repentance.” “We need a change of heart, abandonment of sin, and faith in Jesus Christ who makes repentance possible.” “Real repentance must involve faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

(That was close. We ALMOST went an entire Conference without a C.S. Lewis quote.)

I like the teaching that repentance is more than just “behavior modification.”

Problems in repenting:

Blaming others shifts responsibility which makes us victims rather than agents – this minimizes repentance. “Minimizing our mistakes removes the motivation to change.”

“Minimizing our sins, even if there are no apparent consequences, will decrease our motivation to repent of them.” Thinking that our sins do not matter because God loves us no matter what we do. (Harkening back to the “unconditional love idea.)

Belief in Universal Exaltation is a false Nehor concept. (Love it when a prophet uses the anti-christs to teach.)

“Instead of making excuses, let us choose repentance.”   <—- YES.

Interesting thought: “We can feel godly sorrow for our actions and at the same time feel the joy of having the Savior’s help.”

 

• I am not sure if I remember a Conference that has been so totally about the fundamentals.  At a time where the world is in chaos, and so many are struggling with doubt and social conflict, we are being pointed back to the most basic, simple truths of the Gospel. THAT is the answer to the doubt and anguish that so many experience. We need to stop ‘looking beyond the mark, ” and return to the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine of Christ, and repentance through the Atonement of Christ. Just like it has ALWAYS been.

Thanks for checking in. I love you all! Even Henneke. Especially Henneke.